“Yee Announces Plan to Make San Francisco Cleaner and Greener – Yee unveils environmental policy commitments he plans to undertake as Mayor

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Mayoral candidate and Senator Leland Yee unveiled his environmental policy plan, entitled “San Francisco 2020: Leland Yee’s vision for a cleaner, greener city.” Yee released his plan at Rincon Park along side members of the Sierra Club and San Francisco Tomorrow.

Yee’s plan contains 24 specific commitments that he will embark on as Mayor to ensure the city continues to lead on urban environmental policy, that parks are protected from privatization, that we meet our 100% clean energy and zero waste goals, and that we protect our treasured shoreline in preparation for the America’s Cup.

“I am looking forward to making our city the greenest urban center in the nation,” said Yee. “As Mayor, I will fight to protect our air, land and water for future generations. This plan will ensure San Francisco continues to lead on environmental policy and park stewardship, and that we meet our clean energy and zero waste goals.”

Yee is the endorsed candidate by San Francisco’s leading environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club and San Francisco Tomorrow, as their first choice for the environment.

“Leland Yee has the strongest and most established environmental record of the candidates running for Mayor, and we proudly endorse his campaign,” said Arthur Feinstein, Chair of the Sierra Club – San Francisco Bay Chapter. “His vision will help San Francisco lead the nation in environmental stewardship.”

Yee has consistently scored top marks from environmentalists. In 2010, he was one of only two state senators to be 100% rated by every major environmental organization, including the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, and Clean Water Action.

For these efforts, Yee has received several environmental honors including the Resource Conservation Award by the California Resource Recovery Association; Coastal Steward Award by Vote the Coast; Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Neighborhoods by the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods; and Environmental Champion by Environment California

Among Yee’s many environmental accomplishments, he co-authored AB 32 – the Global Warming Solutions Act, and was one the most outspoken legislators opposing the bad “water deal” package in Sacramento. He passed legislation to stop offshore oil drilling, was a leader in the effort to protect the Farallon Islands, and passed reform legislation in response to the 2007 San Francisco Bay Cosco Busan oil spill.

SAN FRANCISCO (Aug. 5, 2010) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera today filed suit against two warring criminal street gangsthat have terrorized San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley for more than three years. The civil complaint filed in Superior Court this morning names the Down Below Gangsters and Towerside Gang as defendants in a civil action that seeks to prohibit an array of gang-related criminal and nuisance conduct by 41 adult gang members within a proposed “safety zone” covering less than two-tenths of a square mile.

If granted by the court, Herrera’s civil gang injunction would bar named gang members from engaging in intimidation, graffiti vandalism, loitering, trespassing, displaying gang signs or symbols, and associating with other gang members under most circumstances within the safety zone. The injunction would additionally prohibit the possession of guns and other weapons, drugs, and graffiti implements within the area at all times. Violations of such injunctions can be pursued civilly by the City Attorney, for contempt of court, or prosecuted criminally by the District Attorney, as a misdemeanor for up to six months in county jail.

“The residents of Visitacion Valley have been caught in a crossfire by warring criminal street gangs, and the injunction I’m pursuing today intends to put an end to it,” Herrera said. “This injunction names 41 adult gang members in two rival gangs, representing the most active and dangerous threats to public safety. As is typical in these cases, most live outside the community they’ve chosen to victimize. As the California Supreme Court majority held in its 1997 Acuna decision on gang injunctions, ‘Preserving the peace is the first duty of government, and it is for the protection of the community from the predations of the idle, the contentious, and the brutal that government was invented.’ The gang injunction we’re pursuing today asserts the right of Visitacion Valley families to live in the peace and safety to which they’re entitled.”

“Gang injunctions like the ones City Attorney Herrera has successfully fought to put in place give law enforcement another important weapon in the fight against criminal street gangs who terrorize our communities,” said District Attorney Kamala D. Harris. “As the chief elected law enforcement leader in San Francisco, I consider this another vital tool in the prosecution of violent criminals. I thank the City Attorney for working with me to help keep San Francisco safe.”